National parks and Canyon country

National parks and Canyon country

National Parks and Canyon country

In 1997 we planned a multi-state vacation with a travel company to tour the natural wonders in Western America. Our National Parks tour started in Denver and ended in Las Vegas.  We flew into Denver and stayed there overnight to be picked up by our travel company in the morning at 8am. We were the first passengers to be picked up, and the rest of the 26 were picked up from different hotel locations. Including the driver and guide, we were 30 people. The coach held an orientation when everyone was on board to provide basic information and guidance about the upcoming trip and the rules for everyone’s safety and fun. It was a beautiful coach with air and heat as needed. One of my favorite rules was that we could not grab the same or front seats every time we got on after stopping somewhere. They designed a good rule: everyone moved one seat backward, so the people in the last seat moved to the front, giving everyone an equal chance to have the front seats. Later on, I found out that most tour buses observe the same rule. 

We started in Denver with overnights along the way in Custer, Lead, South Dakota; Cody, Yellowstone, Jackson, Wyoming; Salt Lake City, Cedar City, Utah; Page, Williams, Arizona; and on to Las Vegas, where our trip ended.

Our first night was in Custer, South Dakota, where we stayed in a really comfortable hotel. The best part throughout our vacation was that we did not have to worry about carrying luggage or looking for food. Luggage was brought to the room, and we were asked to leave it outside the door at midnight to be loaded onto the bus for the next leg of our journey.  Most of the food and entertainment were included. In Custer, we were booked in a place called Heritage village for dinner. They had lined up a great dinner for us. We were treated to a Jamboree, a great show with songs and stand-up comedy with all local flavor as we ate.   We were lucky to have such an opportunity to give us an insight into the local lifestyle of South Dakota. We had a lot of fun and got to know some of the people in our group. Another treat was that Crazy Horse Memorial was located at a stone’s throw from where we stood in the Heritage Village grounds. It was built to honor the famous Lakota leader. Although the sculptor’s original work began in 1948, surprisingly, it was still under construction. 

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After spending the night in Custer, we were headed to visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial, a large-scale mountain sculpture designed by artist Gutzon Borglum. It was decided to feature the faces of four Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, because they played important roles in American History.  Each face is approximately 60 feet in height and with noses longer than 20 feet. Their mouths are also about 18 feet wide.

On our way to Mount Rushmore, located near Keystone in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we passed a huge expanse of grass fields extending as far as the eye could see. Where a herd of bison was chomping on the beautiful green grass to their heart’s content. It was an exciting scene. Information given to us by the tour company said,

“Bison often referred to as buffalo once numbered in the millions in the West. After being reduced nearly to extinction at the turn of the century, they established a stronghold in Yellowstone. The beard wagging bison is often seen in Firehole River, Old Faithful thermal basins, and the Lamar and Hayden valleys. In the annual rutting season, a ritual in early August, males charge each other, banging heads in competition. Always stay out of the way, especially during this time.”

Arriving and seeing these awesome Mount Rushmore sculptures was exciting. It took us just over an hour to go through the attraction. It was beautiful and had some tourist stores to shop in, but it wasn’t enough to captivate your attention longer. 

But we had two other stops before the day ended. The next stop at Mount Moriah cemetery was in Deadwood which was 50 miles from Rushmore. Mount Moriah Cemetery is Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock considered notable figures of the Wild West. 

74 miles more brought us to Devils Tower, located near Belle Fourche, South Dakota. It is a thousand feet tall rock formation in a valley and looks like a giant tree trump. 

After an exciting day, we had dinner and spent the night in Lead, South Dakota. The next morning after breakfast, we left Lead for Yellowstone National Park to marvel at another natural wonder of West.

Please look out for future postings on National Park Trip.

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